Charges dropped in bank robbery, bomb threat case

MARION — Charges against a Marion man accused of robbing a bank and threatening to set off a bomb were dropped earlier this month.

Marion County Assistant Prosecutor William Owen asked the court to dismiss an aggravated robbery charge against Todd P. Smith, 40, earlier this month. The charge was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be leveled against Smith again.

Owen said he asked for the case to be dismissed because of time constraints, pointing to speedy trial laws that require felony cases to go to trial within 270 days if the defendant is not being held in jail and within 90 days if the defendant is in jail while awaiting trial.

"Right now we're just preserving speedy trial time and intend to restart this case toward the end of Mr. Smith's prison term," Owen said, referring to Smith's prison sentence in a separate case.

Smith was sentenced to eight months in prison in that case after he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, in Marion County Common Pleas Court late last month.

Smith started serving his prison term on Oct. 27, with the time he spent in jail awaiting trial on the drug possession and robbery charges counting toward that sentence. His expected release date is in April, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Smith was charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, in Marion County Common Pleas Court not long after he was picked up on the drug possession charge. Prosecutors accused Smith of walking into the Union Bank on Richland Road on Aug. 17 with what they say Smith claimed to be a bomb and stealing about $4,100 from the bank, according to court records.

The robber left behind the purported bomb, causing local law enforcement to rope off areas around the bank until the Columbus Bomb Squad determined it was not a real bomb.

Chris Burchinal, Smith's defense attorney, said his client has maintained he is innocent of the robbery charge "from day one."

Prosecutors allege that within hours of the bank robbery, Smith loaded a Visa card with $1,000, bought a new phone, paid overdue bills and rented a hotel room for two nights, according to court records.

When asked about those circumstances, Burchinal said he could not discuss those details.

"My client has been as cooperative as he could be. He provided a DNA sample and wants to work toward getting this resolved," he said.

Before dismissing the charges, Owen asked the court in mid-October to push Smith's trial back, saying prosecutors were waiting on potential DNA evidence from the state crime lab, court records say. Initial tests did not turn up any DNA evidence linking Smith to the robbery, but more samples were sent to the crime lab for testing in mid-October.